China ‘deploys 150,000 troops to deal with possible North Korean refugees over fears Trump may strike Kim Jong-un following missile attack on Syria’, by Kelly McLaughlin.

The Chinese army has reportedly deployed 150,000 troops [from medical and backup units] to the North Korean border to prepare for pre-emptive attacks after the United States dropped airstrikes on Syria. The troops have been dispatched to handle North Korean refugees and ‘unforeseen circumstances’, such as the prospect of preemptive attacks on North Korea …

Meanwhile, the US Navy has moved the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group from Singapore to North Korea after the country conducted more missile testing. …

Seoul and Washington are also conducting joint military drills, an annual exercise which is seen by the North as a practice for war.

Pyongyang is on a quest to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year. …

While a US unilateral strike on North Korea from a shorter range might be more effective, it would likely endanger many civilians in the South and risk triggering a broader military conflict, experts warn. … ‘If it’s a preventive strike or precision strike, there’s danger that this could expand into a broader regional conflict involving China or Japan. ‘The upside is that the United States may be able to denuclearise the North by force…. but it will come at a huge cost to the region and to the United States,’ [James Kim, an analyst at Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies] told AFP.